The New York City Police Department, with its 35,000 officers, has in recent years been on the front lines of the citywide decline in serious crime. It has protected visiting dignitaries like Pope Benedict XVI at events that drew thousands of people, and it has posted officers in foreign capitals to gather information on terrorism and trends that could threaten New York.

But the Police Department continues to be flummoxed by bicyclists riding together once a month.

Critical Mass celebrating 15 years of free-form bicycle advocacy
Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, September 28, 2007

(09-27) 20:59 PDT San Francisco -- Tonight's Critical Mass in San Francisco marks the 15th anniversary of the rebellious rolling ride that locally has propelled the bicycle movement into the political mainstream and globally has been copied by hundreds of cities.

What began with four dozen bicyclists riding together up Market Street on Sept. 25, 1992, has turned into a monthly happening that regularly draws thousands of participants pedaling along the streets of San Francisco, at times drawing both praise and scorn.

The monthly Critical Mass rides are part political statement and part roving street festival and now are firmly part of San Francisco's cultural fabric.

Critical Mass has no organized leadership. The rides are promoted by word of mouth and over the Internet. The only constant is that they are held the last Friday of the month and start around 6 p.m. at Justin Herman Plaza at the foot of Market Street. The routes are fluid, often determined on the spot.

It is not uncommon for the mass rides to tie up automobile traffic for an hour or more just as people commuting by car or bus are trying to get home at the end of their workweek.

The Villager
Volume 77, Number 12 | August 22 - 28, 2007 

Critical look at Critical Mass by cop who covers it

By Jefferson Siegel

For the 10 years of Critical Mass in New York City, the police paid scant attention to the monthly bike ride. That changed with the Republican National Convention in August 2004, when hundreds of cyclists were among the 1,800 arrested that week.

In the years since the R.N.C., the ride's Union Square starting point has often resembled a military zone, with the cyclists surrounded by police. When the riders would depart from the square they were chased by helicopters and hundreds have since been arrested and ticketed.

Earlier this month, as the third anniversary of the convention approached, a police officer who has been present at many recent Critical Mass rides agreed to give an interview about his thoughts on policing Critical Mass and the event, in general.

A satirist dressed as a preacher and protesting what he called the Disneyfication of New York City was arrested Friday for harassing police in Union Square before the start of a monthly bicycle rally that the Bloomberg administration has been trying to rein in.

Bill Talen, who performs under the name Reverend Billy, said that he was arrested after trying to defend the cyclists' rights by reading the First Amendment to the police - through a bullhorn. The authorities said that he was arrested after repeatedly being told to stop.

Mr. Talen was charged with two counts of second-degree harassment. He was released without bail pending a court date in August.

"We were full of the holy spirit of the First Amendment," said Mr. Talen, who is in his mid-50s and was dressed like a big-tent evangelist, with a white suit and a dyed-blond pompadour. He sometimes spreads his message with the help of the Church of Stop-Shopping Gospel Choir.

In an interview yesterday, Mr. Talen defended his performance art. "New York City won't exist if we won't let creativity happen in public space," he said.

Mr. Talen said he was at Union Square to support the cyclists taking part in Critical Mass, a monthly ride aimed at promoting nonpolluting forms of transportation. Critical Mass riders gather the last Friday of every month at Union Square.

notes from May critical mass ride. snipet below...

9:50pm :
Got a report that around 40th and Broadway a woman was doored by a cop car while in motion. She was in the bike lane. She face planted and broke her colar bone. There is credible evidence that entire incident was witnessed.

----------------------------------------- CRIMINAL MASS ( documentary )-------------------

- A journey through the Critical Mass Bicycle Ride and America’s right to assemble. Filmmaker Christopher J. Ryan ( Warriors: the Bike Race, Still We Ride, Team Spider Television ) has spent the last 18 months tracking his personal experiences as a Critical Mass bike rider, as well as his subsequent journey through the New York State Criminal Court system. The colorful, poignant, and often funny story is told through video footage that includes video diaries, bicycle chase scenes, paddy wagon interviews shot by Chris’ handcuffed hands , voyeuristic NYPD helicopter footage, as well as daring video exposing the presence of NYPD’s previously denied undercover agents ( recently used as the basis of a recent New York Times cover story ). Throughout his extensive journey, Chris tries to juggle his time- consuming legal battles and courtroom appearances, with his day-job working, ironically, on television’s “Law and Order” where he lights the large courtroom sets that are used to pretend to prosecute the city’s real crimes. His misadventures are intertwined with a colorful cast of characters, including:

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-His fellow arrestees, who form a legal aid group known as FREEWHEELS, as they become unwilling participants in the cat & mouse style police chases and exhaustive legal battles. -Chris’ VIDEO CAMERA, a character unto itself as the beaten and bruised little camcorder is repeatedly smashed to pieces and miraculously brought back to life by a sympathetic television news technician named “FLIP”. -Chris’ Father, KEVIN, a military officer and Vietnam veteran, who, horrified at the recent treatment of Cindy Sheahan, becomes heavily involved in his son’s legal battles. -Dozens of unlikely “criminals” such as 8-year old JENNA, who can’t understand “why the police arrest bicyclists” and SHARON, who, at seven months pregnant, when sent to jail for standing on the sidewalk with her bike the night of a Critical Mass ride. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------------------

- Criminal Mass examines the erosion of the American people’s personal freedoms, privacies, and the right to assemble, while celebrating the unexpected positive effects, communities and friendships forged in the face of injustice.